Historically computers have connected to peripherals through the use of cables. A cable may, for example, connect a computer to a peripheral such as a printer or a monitor. A cable may also permit a computer to connect into a network, such as a local-area network or a wide-area network. As a way to provide for such connectivity, cables have the advantage of permitting reliable communication at relatively low cost.
Cables are typically best used in environments in which computers and peripherals are relatively stationery, and do not need to be moved around frequently. Connecting a peripheral to a computer by cable, for example, usually entails turning off both the peripheral and the computer, and plugging the cable into a port in the back of each of the peripheral and the computer. This is typically an inconvenience for the user, reduced only by the fact that it usually needs to be accomplished only once. After the peripheral has been connected to the computer, it usually is not disconnected. That is, both the peripheral and the computer typically remain in the same location.
However, this paradigm of connectivity has changed in light of the increasing portability of computers. Laptop and notebook computers, for example, by their very nature are not used only in one location. A user may use a laptop computer at work, at home, and while traveling on business. In such situations, the need to constantly plug and unplug cables to communicate with peripherals is a great inconvenience for the user. Moreover, the user may misplace the cable, or worse, plug the wrong type of cable into the computer and ruin the computer, the peripheral, or both.
A new paradigm of connectivity has come into place to alleviate these problems and inconveniences. Rather than using a cable to connect a computer to a peripheral to achieve "wired communication," there now is "wireless communication." One type of wireless communication is infrared communication. Rather than having to plug a cable into both the computer and the peripheral, a user instead only has to line up an infrared transceiver of the computer with the infrared transceiver of the peripheral. Infrared communication is especially desirable for laptop computer users, who frequently move about with their computers.
Typically, however, infrared communication requires that the transceiver at each end be within the same line of sight. An infrared transceiver of a computer, for example, may require that it be lined up within about fifteen degrees of an infrared receiver of a peripheral to permit infrared wireless communication between the two. If the transceivers do not so line up with one another, communication between the computer and the peripheral may be interrupted.
Typically, the infrared transceiver of the computer is located on the back of the computer, and the infrared transceiver on the front of the peripheral. This means that the user of the computer must use the computer directly in front of the peripheral in order to communicate with it. The user of the computer is thus greatly restricted in where he or she can locate the computer relative to the peripheral.
Furthermore, frequently laptop computers communicate with one another in a peer-to-peer manner. In the case where the infrared receiver of each computer is located on the back of the computer, this means that the computers must be aligned with one another back-to-back to permit infrared wireless communication between the computers. This presents the users of these computers with a great inconvenience, in that they are forced to work head-to-head with one another.
Optionally, the infrared transceiver of one or both of the computer and the peripheral is located on a dongle that attaches to a cable to the computer. In this situation, the user has more freedom in moving the computer while still communicating wirelessly with the peripheral. However, dongles have the potential of becoming lost, and in any case typically tie up a communications port on the back of the computer. Furthermore, the addition of yet another cable to be connected in the back of the computer increases the potential for the tangling of cables. The dongles are also difficult to store when not in use (i.e., when the computer is moved from one location to another), and take up scarce desk-top space.
There is a need, therefore, for an infrared transceiver of a computer or a computer peripheral that permits wireless infrared communication while not greatly restricting the location in which either the computer or the peripheral can be used, and not causing peer-to-peer communications among computers to be overly inconvenient for their users. There is a further need for such an infrared transceiver that is not encased within a dongle that attaches to either the computer or the peripheral.